Destruction Imminent

Who needs a PC?

Not me, I've never owned one. Anyhow, let's talk gaming... Destruction Imminent was released in 1996 by Cunning & Devious Games for the Atari ST/e and is a first-person shooter, similar to a typical Wolfenstein clone. In fact, it's incredibly reminiscent of that early 90s era thanks to the familiar look and gameplay styles. The gameplay takes place in a similar environment too where we are fighting against the hoards using a range of familiar weaponry. Let's call it inspired?

First things first, before you play - watch the intro play through. It's actually pretty cool and is accompanied by gorgeous music whilst it introduces the monsters we will encounter. These are a scary bunch and pretty freaky too!!

It's time to stop reading and take a look at a couple of screenshots of the robots and rock monster...

The robots can be really tough opponents at times.

Rock monster! I'll say no more...

Enter the dungeon!

From the start, the atmosphere is predictable with each level overrun by strange creatures - but not to worry because there are lots of weapons ranging from the pistol to the more powerful machine gun, rocket launcher and plasma rifle. There are a wide variety of monsters with some oddballs - the Rock Monster is like a crude Daroou from Dungeon Master. He's oddly cute and looks like he's made from gingerbread! Anyhow, just kill him and free your monitor from that pixel art.

Controls are superb: cursor keys are used for walking, CTRL fires weapons and SHIFT allows you to run away like a cowardly chicken. Also, side-stepping is possible - which is always needed. The Function Keys are used to flip between weapons/health. Sadly, the mouse isn't supported but the wooden movement from a keyboard is responsive and just like Wolf3D.

Okay, wanna see some more of the enemies you'll be up against? Of course, you do...

Things are getting creepy with bugs!

There are also bats. Surely, you're not scared? Come back...!!

Jerky Aesthetics?

Surely the humble 8MHz Atari ST isn't powerful enough to properly run a first-person shooter? You need at least a 25MHz PC, right? Well, ignoring the drab user interface, the visuals are very impressive using a fast 3D engine that won't fail to impress. This makes full use of texture mapping, light-sourced sprites and a decent framerate. Power without the price!

As for the audio, thankfully, this is equally impressive using sound effects and cool tunes. Everything is even better when run using the Atari STe thanks to its stereo DMA coprocessor. This game is awesome so colour me impressed!

Yep, it looks and sounds excellent which is always nice to have so let's check out the last two monsters...

Mutants? Nah, they're not scary! In fact, they look like me on a Monday morning!

Gotta love the pixel artwork - stunning!

The CryptO'pinion?

This game is a LOT of fun: the weapons are great and exploring demon-infested worlds is always fascinating. There are no complaints from me, as I cannot take anything away from what is an extraordinary example of what the Atari ST/e is capable of knocking out - when in the hands of talented people who care about their product. No lame port here.

Play it on the Atari STe if you can and enjoy what is nothing short of a brilliant first-person shooter.

Destruction Imminent

[ download from my Dropbox ]